I am pleased to send you my Session Wrap Up e-newsletter. This
e-newsletter features events and legislative activities from the session week of
March 14, 2016.

If you find this e-newsletter useful, I invite you to visit my website
www.senatorscotthutchinson.com for more information about your state
government. If you do not wish to receive these e-newsletters, please click the
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Sincerely,

Scott

Senate Works to Complete FY 2015-16 Budget

Working to finally close the book on the state’s Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget,
the Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that would restore money slashed by the
Governor’s line-item vetoes, while providing a modest increase for education
without the need for new taxes.

House Bill 1801, as amended by the Senate Appropriations Committee
on Tuesday and approved by the full Senate on Wednesday, is a $30.031 billion
spending plan that restores much of the $6 billion in funding for essential
programs and services that were line-item vetoed by the Governor from the FY
2015-16 budget (House Bill 1460)enacted last December.

This marks the fourth time that the Senate has acted to provide essential
funding for our schools, agricultural programs and human services agencies. This
supplemental funding fills the holes created by the Governor through his
line-item vetoes. It will keep agricultural extension services and 4-H programs
running. It keeps schools open and in fact provides a significant increase in
education funding. By signing this bill, the Governor can provide much needed
money to schools and social service agencies. It is way past time for us to
finalize this budget, move beyond the past and look toward Pennsylvania’s
future.

Basic Education will see $5.95 billion in funding, an increase of $200
million from Fiscal Year 2014-15 including Ready-to-Learn Block Grant money. The
total also represents a $50 million increase over the funding vetoed by the
Governor.

HB 1801 reverses the Governor’s line-item vetoes of funding for community
colleges and the State System of Higher Education, while providing full funding
for Pennsylvania’s state related universities: Penn State, Pitt, Temple and
Lincoln.

The bill would provide funds to preserve programs such as agricultural
extension and research and 4-H that are currently in jeopardy since they were
defunded by the Governor’s line-item vetoes.

The Senate also approved
House Bill 1327, the Fiscal Code companion bill to the budget.

Both HB 1327 and HB 1801 were returned to the House of Representatives for
concurrence on Senate amendments.

Senate Approves Veterans Preference Hiring Measure

The Senate approved a bill on Tuesday that would let Pennsylvania employers
adopt and use a veterans’ preference employment policy.

Senate Bill 1013would exempt employers with a written veterans’
employment policy from violations of state and local equal employment
opportunities law. Legislation allowing veterans’ preference has been signed
into law in a number of states including: California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky
and Oklahoma.

Other bills approved by the Senate this week include:

Senate Bill 50, which provides for an industrial hemp industry in
the Commonwealth through the establishment of a permitting process within the
Department of Agriculture to license and regulate the cultivation, growth and
sale of industrial hemp. The 2014 Federal Farm Bill permits industrial hemp
research if it is authorized by a state.

Senate Bill 1056, whichupdates the law on the
assignment of custody and visitation rights of deployed parents.

All three bills now go to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Senate Adopts Maple Producers Week Resolution

On Tuesday the Senate adopted Senate Resolution 302,
legislation I introduced designating the week of March 20 through 26 as “Maple
Producers Week” in Pennsylvania. Maple producers play a critical role in the
Commonwealth by providing jobs and product to Pennsylvania’s economy. Due to
their importance, this resolution sets aside a week to recognize the industry’s
contribution to the state.

Audio and videoof my remarks on the floor of the Senate on Senate Resolution 302.

Ag Committees Hold Hearing on Cuts to Agriculture
Funding

With an increasing groundswell of public outcry regarding the Governor’s
slashing of $72 million in state funding for agricultural programs, the Senate
and House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committees held a public hearing on
Tuesday on the impact of those cuts on Pennsylvania’s farmers and the various
programs that support their livelihood.

With the Governor’s line-item veto of agricultural funding, Pennsylvania is
close to becoming the only state in the nation that does not run an Agricultural
Extension program. We might soon be the only state without 4-H, and we may soon
be the only state without a state-supported College of Agricultural Sciences.
These are essential programs that provide vital services to Pennsylvania’s
farming families.

Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding testified at the hearing. Penn State
discussed the school’s agricultural extension and promotion programs. Officials
from the University of Pennsylvania discussed the university’s School of
Veterinary Medicine. Other testifiers included officials representing the
Pennsylvania 4-H, the Westmoreland County Extension, the Pennsylvania Farm
Bureau, and the PennAg Industries Association.

Committees Review Every Student Succeeds Act

This week the Senate Education Committee and the House Education Committee
held a joint public hearing on the Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
ESSA is touted as a more state-centered and flexible replacement to the No Child
Left Behind Act.

The hearing was important for many reasons, not the least being that those
committees will be studying the impact of the specific provisions of the ESSA on
Pennsylvania’s schools. The committees will also develop the proper policies and
legislation to implement this new federal accountability measure in
Pennsylvania.